Railway vehicle construction



Feb. 29, 1944. w. F. HoLlN RAILWAY 'VEHICLE CONSTRUCTION Filedl Dec. 22,1941 Zmnentor Patented Feb. 29, 1944 2,342,864 v RAILWAY VEHICLE.CONSTRUCTION William F. Holin, North Riverside, Ill., assignor toGeneral Motors Corporation, Detroit, Mich., a corporation of DelawareApplication December 22, 1941, serial No. 424,025

fol. loa- 216) Claims.

This invention relates to railway vehicle con struction and has to domore particularly with the construction of locomotives of the type whichare employed for switching purposes.

Such locomotives are frequently required to operate on sections of trackwhere the roadbed is not maintained in good condition so that the trackis likely to be quite rough and uneven, and while the spring suspensionprovided in locomotives of this type is particularly designed tominimize the occurrence of derailments by permitting more than the usualamount of vertical movement of the wheels so that they may move up ordown a considerable distance to follow the irregu larities in the track,derailments will occasionally occur.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a constructionwherein the various parts of the locomotive which would normally belikely to be damaged in case of derailment will be protected frominjury. This is a-ccomplished by securing a relatively heavy bracingmember to the lower ends of each pair of pedestal legs, and forming askid portion on the bracing member, the skid portion extendingdownwardly beneath the journal box to a point a few inches above the topof the rail. In the event that derailment does occur, since the skidportion of the bracing member extends to a point considerably below thepedestal legs and other parts of the truck, it will protect them frominjury, the skid portion at this time sliding along on top of the trackor roadbed. The bracing member itself is of such heavy construction thatit will ordinarily be able to withstand the shocks it may be subjectedto byv coming into contact with stationary objects.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent uponreference to the following description and accompanying drawing, inwhich:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of the frame and running gear of arailway vehicle of the type described, showing my invention associatedtherewith;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary side elevational view of one end of thestructure illustrated in Fig. 1, showing the parts on a larger scale;and

Fig. 3 is a sectional view, taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

The reference numeral I0 designates generally a frame which in the typeof switching locomotive construction illustrated extends substantiallythe full length of the locomotive and serves as the iioor or platformthereof. Adjacent each corner of this frame are secured a pair ofpedestal legs I2. In the particular embodiment shown, the frame is madeup of relatively heavy plates welded together, I4 and I6 beinglongitudinally extending plates which have their upper edges welded tothe top or floor plate i8.

The pedestal legs are each made up of outer plates 2U and inner plates22, the upper ends of which are welded to the plates I4 and I6respectively, there being transversely extending plates 24 and 26 havingtheir opposite sides welded to the plates 2l] and 22. The upper ends ofthe plates 24 and 26 extend upwardly between the plates I4 and I6 andare welded thereto. A horizontally extending plate 28 is welded to thelower end of each of the pedestal legs, and serves to close theotherwise open ends of the latter.

Secured to the plates by bolts 36 is a member 32 provided with flanges34 at its ends, the bolts extending through aligned. holes formed in theflanges and in the plates 28. The central part of the member 32 extendsdownwardly to a point a few inches above the top of the rail to form askid portion 35, yand extending vertically above this are machinedguides 36, provided with out- 'f wardly projecting portions 38 which arereceived in notches 40 to properly position the members 32 with respectto the pedestal legs while they are being bolted thereto.

42 is a journal box provided with flange portions v44 which bear againstopposite sides of each of the guides 36 so that the journal box is freeto slide upwardly or downwardly therein, such movement being yieldinglyresisted by two sets of compression springs, each set comprisingconcentrically arranged coil springs 46, 48 and 50 of different sizes,each of thesprings seating at their lower ends in a saddle 52 whichrests on top of the journal box, and at their upper ends abuttingagainst shims 54 which are located within a member 56 which bearsagainst the lower surface of the frame plate I8. Wear plates 58 arewelded to the plates 24 on the inside of the pedestal legs, these wearplates limiting fore and aft movement of the saddle, transverse movementof same being prevented by lugs 60 formed on the top of the journal box.Axle 62, on which are mounted wheels 64, is supported at opposite endsin bearings in the journal boxes in the usual manner.

To permit removal of an axle and the journal boxes in which it issupported, Without requiring that the compression springs be removed,keys 66 are provided, these keys extending through openings formed inthe plates 24, 26 and 58. These keys project into the space between thepedestal legs so that when the bolts 30 are removed and the axle and thejournal boxes are permitted to drop downwardly with respect to thepedestal legs, the saddles on opposite sides of the truck will rest ontop of the ends of the keys, so that further downward movement of thesaddles vby the springs is prevented, The keys are held in position bybolts 68 which extend through aligned holes formed in the outer ends ofthe keys and in lugs 10 welded to the pedestal legs, and the keys may ofcourse be removed to permit assembly or disassembly of the saddles andspring sets within the space between the pedestal legs.

It will be readily seen that the bracing member 32 not only serves torigidly tie the lower ends of the pedestal legs together to brace themrelative to each other, but it also in the event that derailment shouldoccur serves as a skid which will slide over the top of the rail or theroadbed and will protect the pedestal legs or other downwardlyprojecting parts of the truck from becoming damaged. Also, because thejournal box is slidably supported in this bracing member rather thandirectly between the pedestal legs themselves, there is more spaceavailable within which to locate the keys for permitting removal of theaxle and journal boxes without necessitating removal of the compressionsprings and saddies. In the conventional constructions wherein thejournal boxes are supported directly between the pedestal legs, suchkeys would have to be located above the tops of the journal boxes, andthis would not be satisfactory since it would not permit the use of longenough springs in the limited space which would be left. In myconstruction, it will be noted that the keys may be located far enoughbelow the tops of the journal boxes to permit the use of springs whichwill be long enough to produce a satisfactory form of suspension.

While a specific embodiment of my invention has been shown anddescribed, it will be understood that various changes may be made in thedetails of construction without departing from the spirit and scope ofthe appended claims.

I claim:

l. In a railway vehicle construction, a frame having a pair of spacedpedestal legs depending therefrom, a member secured to the lower end ofeach of the pedestal legs, said member having guide portions extendingupwardly between said pedestal legs, a journal box mounted in saidmember for Vertical sliding movement therein, a saddle mounted on top ofsaid journal box and extending over the upper ends of said guideportions, and a plurality of compression springs located between saidsaddle and said frame.

2. In a railway Vehicle construction, a frame having a pair of spacedpedestal legs depending therefrom, a member secured to the lower end ofeach of the pedestal legs, said member having guide portions extendingupwardly between said pedestal legs, a journal box mounted in said guideportions for vertical sliding movement therein, a saddle resting on topof said journal box and extending over the upper ends of said guideportions, a plurality of compression springs located between said saddleand said frame, and means associated with said pedestal legs serving tohold the saddle and compression springs in place While the member andjournal box is being removed.

3. In a railway vehicle construction, a frame having a pair of spacedpedestal legs depending therefrom, a member secured to the lower end ofeach of the pedestal legs, a journal box mounted in said member forvertical sliding movement therein, a saddle resting on top of saidjournal box, a plurality of compression springs located between saidsaddle and said frame, and a key extending through each pedestal leg andadapted to engage said saddle to limit downward movement of the latterwhile the member and journal box is being removed.

4. In a railway vehicle construction, a frame having a pair of spacedpedestal legs depending therefrom, a member secured to the lower end ofeach of the pedestal legs, a journal box mounted in said member forvertical sliding movement therein, a saddle resting on top of saidjournal box, a plurality of compression springs located between saidsaddle and said frame, a removable key extending through each pedestalleg and adapted to engage said saddle to limit downward movement of thelatter while the member and journal box is being removed, and meansadapted to secure said keys in the above described position.

' 5. In a railway vehicle construction, a frame having a pair of spacedpedestal legs depending therefrom, a member secured to the lower end ofeach of the pedestal legs and extending downwardly below the latter toform a skid portion serving to protect the pedestal legs from damage inthe event of derailment, said member having spaced guides formedthereon, a journal box mounted between said guides for vertical slidingmovement therein, a saddle resting on top of said journal box, aplurality of compression springs located between said saddle and saidframe, and means associated with said pedestal legs adapted to engagesaid saddle to limit downward movement of the latter while the memberand the journal box is being removed, said means being removable topermit assembly or disassembly of the saddle and the compression springsin the space between the pedestal legs.

WILLIAM F. HOLIN.

